Rust interior of wheel

Hi All, I wanted to see others thoughts on how to repair the rust shown. I realize this is not actually the wheel itself but some sort of spacer. Does anyone know what its called? Would you recommend replacing these 4 parts or painting them to look nicer. I recently had the wheels stripped and powder coated so what these to look good as well. Thanks!

Quotes source post: 16068656

Part of the brake rotor. Save your money on that and buy some newer tires. Those things are 7+ years old and appear to be dry rotting.

It's the brake rotor. You can paint the rotor "cap" with high temperature paint if you want to. You will have to remove the brake caliper from the rotor to get it off for painting. It may not look good, but a little surface corrosion on that part of the rotor won't hurt it.

I did this project back in January when the car was in storage. Look up my post with pictures in our 991 Forum.

x2 on the tires...You got bigger fish to fry!

It's a rotor hat. I paint mine with high-temp gray manifold paint.

X3 on the tires....those old things have got to go.... And as other have said, rotor hats (part of the rotor) can be repainted if it bothers you that much. It is purely cosmetic and has no effect on anything other than your reputation on being a good Porsche owner.

Painted rotor hat pictures and DIY here: https://rennlist.com/forums/991/1124...vent-fins.html

Thanks all for the tips! I guess I need some new tires haha. Honestly, I never even thought of them being too old. I'm glad everyone pointed it out.

Quick follow up question to those who suggested new tires. Do most order online then have them installed locally? I wonder if a shop would have any issues with me showing up with tires they did not order themselves.

Quotes source post: 16070525

I use Tire Rack and have them shipped direct to a local mechanic. They won't mind, though you should call and ask about cost for mounting / balancing first.

Quotes source post: 16070525

I do it a lot with Tirerack. They have recommended installers that are happy to do the mount, balance and install.

As someone who works in this bussiness i can answer that easily. Order them from tire rack and install local. Tire profit margins are so small its not funny. Online sellers like tire rack are almost always the cheapest. Most shops are more than happy to install new tires from an online company. As others have said, tire rack has prefered installers that will do the install for a little cheaper. Or you can take them to who you prefer. I woukd say 20% of our tire bussiness is shipped in tires that customers got.

Thanks for the insight into the business. Ill bring to my local mechanic soon!

Make sure the shop has the proper mounting machine for wide aspect low profile tires or they can/will damage the clear-coat on your wheels... Good luck

More of the tech than the machine. Most and i stress most shops will have the best guy in the building work on higher and wheels. Just make sure you stress to them to take care of the car and watch them like no tomorrow. If your wheels are in mint condition - point that out. It will make the tech uncomfortable be they will be really really careful.

Quotes source posts: 16070536, 16072617

I wouldn't take Tire Rack's 'Recommended Installers' as gospel. I had some newly refinished Fuchs that I needed tires mounted on and the recommended installer had equipment that looked like they bought it from Goober's garage when it was torn down to make way for the new Mayberry Walmart. OP, you don't list your location but if you happen to be in San Diego, I recommend Discount Tire on Genesse. Jerry the manager is a car guy and belongs to the local PCA and BMWCCA chapters. And as mentioned by Mbren, he puts his 'best guy' on it. The last wheels I took in were very expensive so I had the manager point out the guy that was going to be doing the mounting. I went over and gave him a $20 and said, "I want to buy you lunch because of the awesome job I know you're going to do with my wheels and tires".

[QUOTE=Mbren1979;16072617Just make sure you stress to them to take care of the car and watch them like no tomorrow[/QUOTE] I just bring the wheels to them. I realize most of the vehicles they work on are worth more $$ than my 996, but I'm not letting them fuch up my car.

haha thanks all, I am going to watch them like a hawk. I am now picturing a nightmare scenario where my newly powder coated wheels are absolutely destroyed after a tire change!! Maybe ill just use these tires for the next 20 years ...

Quotes source post: 16068656

That surface rust on brake disc hats is normal, but annoying nonetheless. My first 996 had that surface rust almost immediately from new. It's not really worth it (at least for me) to go through an elaborate mask and paint job, but if you can find some good high-heat brush-on paint, taking a few minutes to brush on paint just around the rotor hats next time you have the wheels off is probably worthwhile if it really annoys you. From a quick search, POR offers brush-on high heat gray paint. I suspect gray will look a lot more "OEM correct" than silver (and silver will show every flaw unless you have it perfect, which it probably won't be with brush-on paint). POR normally requires fairly specific prep, so maybe there is a less fussy high heat gray brush-on paint, this is just the first one I saw after a quick search (I haven't tried this, so I can't say how well it will work) -> Amazon Amazon

I've used it,, hit it with some scotch bright to get rid of the loose stuff and brush on, its a self leveling paint so the brush lines smooth out. Its tough as heck, don't put it on something you don't mean to.. I use a self tapping bolt in to the can just below the lid to pour out of,, I leave the regular lid on, POR is air cured/activated so exposure to air is bad for it.. It goes a long ways, I'd guess the small can would do 2 or three sets of rotors. Their colors work pretty well on calipers too.